{"id":1053,"date":"2019-02-10T21:41:36","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T02:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2020-06-01T09:06:56","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:06:56","slug":"heartland-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/heartland-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"Heartland Skies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Heartland Skies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by Melody Carlson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne Morgan has a lot to learn about love. Harris McAllister has a lot to learn about tolerance. When they meet they have lots to teach each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne feels betrayed when her fianc\u00e9 suddenly dumps her for his high school sweetheart just weeks before the wedding. She\u2019d love to leave Paradise, Oregon, but she\u2019s signed a teaching contract and the kids in her classroom need her.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cNow, here\u2019s a serious contender for this year\u2019s\nall-around buckaroo award,\u201d said the rodeo announcer. \u201cMac Lawson, from\nLubbock, Texas, already holds this year\u2019s saddle bronc record. Today he\u2019s\nriding Black Rage. Let\u2019s hear it, cowboys and cowgirls\u2014put your hands together\nfor Mac on Black!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne\nMorgan watched with wide eyes as the black horse sprang out of the gate, bucking\nand twisting. He was a good-looking horse, and he moved with agility. As silver\nspurs dug into his flanks, the horse spun wildly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nwinced as the fiery stallion again bucked high into the air, this time showing\ndaylight below. The crowd exploded with wild cheering. As the horse landed, he\nthrew down his head impossibly low, and the rider was thrown against his neck.\nIn the next moment, both horse and rider tumbled into a bone-crushing\nsomersault, with the cowboy landing on the bottom. Jayne gasped and covered her\neyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowd grew hushed for an instant, and then a low rumble of\nconcerned murmuring began. Jayne couldn\u2019t bring herself to look. The announcer\nwas saying something about how these things happened in the rodeo world so the\naudience shouldn\u2019t be worried. The words barely registered with Jayne; her\nheart was pounding, and she wished she hadn\u2019t come to the rodeo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIs he\nokay?\u201d she whispered to her fianc\u00e9, Derrick Long, her eyes still closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYep,\nhe\u2019s fine. Just a little shook up is all. See\u2014he\u2019s getting up and walking\naround. No big deal, Jayne.\u201d The crowd began to clap hesitantly, and Jayne\nfinally opened her eyes and stared down into the arena. There in a quivering\nmound lay what had only moments ago been a strong and healthy horse. Two rodeo\nhands were examining him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have\nexperienced help available who know how to handle these situations,\u201d the\nannouncer said in a calm voice; and then he added more quietly, \u201cCould we\nplease have our rodeo veterinarian report to Gate C immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\nthought you said he was just fine!\u201d Jayne grabbed Derrick by the arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is,\u201d\nsaid Derrick as he pointed down to the other end of the arena. \u201cSee, there\u2019s\nMac right\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI meant\nthe horse!\u201d she hissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derrick\nlaughed. \u201cYou mean you were more worried about the horse than the cowboy? Mac\ntook quite a fall. He\u2019s lucky to be walking around right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tears\nburned in her eyes as she looked down at the fallen creature. \u201cBut what about\nthe poor horse? Doesn\u2019t anybody care about him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derrick\nshrugged. \u201cSure, it\u2019s a shame to lose a good animal, but you\u2019re going to have\nto toughen up, Jayne. This is cowboy country. Life is tough in the West.\nAnimals come and go\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpeaking\nof going\u2026\u201d Jayne stood up. \u201cI think I\u2019ve had enough rodeo for today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I\nhaven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne\nremained standing. Derrick\u2019s parents were sitting right behind them. They were\nprobably staring at Jayne right now, wondering what was the matter with her.\nShe decided to give Derrick ten seconds to change his mind. She waited, fixing\nher eyes on the brightly colored flags that flew over the arena. She knew that\nin another minute there would be tears running down her cheeks, and the last\nthing she needed was an audience this size. Not that many would notice. Most of\nthe spectators were getting rowdy again, shouting and stomping their feet,\nanxious for the next contestant to ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nlooked back down at Derrick. It was plain to see that he had no intention of\nleaving. \u201cI\u2019ll see you later,\u201d she said, then turned and began to squeeze past\nmany sets of denim-covered knees and cowboy boots, hoping that perhaps Derrick\nwas following her. But when she turned her head, she could see from the corner\nof her eye that he hadn\u2019t budged. Finally, she reached the stairs, and there\nshe paused for a moment to look back down at the arena. Maybe she was\noverreacting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nhorse was still lying there, motionless. She couldn\u2019t see if he was breathing\nor not, but she hoped he wasn\u2019t in pain. She swallowed hard and turned away\nagain. As she entered the shadowy walkway, she noticed a tractor coming in with\na flat trailer behind it. Her stomach twisted, thinking of the poor animal\nbeing carted away, and she hurried away from the arena and out to the parking\nlots. The announcer was already introducing the next saddle-bronc rider, and\nthe crowd began to cheer wildly. How quickly they had forgotten the fallen\nhorse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne\nfelt hot tears run down her cheeks as she walked toward town. She felt foolish\nand childish. Maybe she just wasn\u2019t cut out for cowboy country, as Derrick had\nsaid. Maybe she just needed to \u201ccowboy up\u201d and go back and watch the rest of\nthe rodeo. But with each step she took away from the rodeo grounds, she knew\nthat she could not. She would not. She loved horses too much to be able to\nstand watching them like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her obsession with horses had begun long ago. It had started\ninnocently, with a gift from her Aunt May for her fifth birthday. The sleek glass animal\nwas a golden palomino with a long, flowing mane and its front hoof lifted proudly\nin the air. Soon after that, Jayne began collecting model horses, and then she\nbegan to draw pictures of horses, and it wasn\u2019t long until she was dreaming of\nhorses. Every night for the next ten years she had prayed for a horse of her\nvery own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she\nwas fifteen, she got a job mucking out stalls for an equestrian center just\noutside of town\u2014horse heaven. It was only a matter of days until she worked out\na deal with the manager to trade work for the use of a horse and riding\nlessons. While she was earning her teaching degree, she promised herself that\nonce she got a good job, she would buy a horse of her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne\nwalked across Main Street and sat down on a bench in front of the drugstore.\nTown was nearly deserted now with everyone over at the rodeo grounds. She took\noff her cowboy hat and wiped a wisp of dark hair off her brow. She leaned her\nhead back and allowed the afternoon sun to pour down upon her face. Derrick\u2019s\nmother was always warning about skin cancer and telling her she should use sunscreen.\nAlthough she knew Mrs. Long was probably right, Jayne had the kind of skin that\nrarely burned so she didn\u2019t bother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nreadjusted the silver barrette that held her hair away from her face. The long,\nheavy ponytail was making her back too warm. Mrs. Long had suggested that she\ncut it, even offering to take Jayne to her own hairdresser. She said that\nJayne\u2019s hair made her look too much like an Indian, but Jayne couldn\u2019t see what\nwas wrong with that. Besides, Derrick seemed to like it. She closed her eyes\nand imagined that she was swimming in a shaded pool of water, with lush green\nthings growing all around. The image was lovely, but it didn\u2019t cool her off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun\nwas starting to sink, but it was still hot out. Derrick had told her that\nIndian summers were common in this area, and even though it was September, she\nshould count on a few more weeks of hot weather. She leaned forward, resting\nher elbows on her knees, and wondered what she should do now. She twirled the\nwhite straw cowboy hat around on her finger. It was a Stetson, a gift from\nDerrick\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayne\nhad only been in town for a couple of weeks, but already she was starting to\nfeel at home. Until today, anyway. She wondered what Derrick\u2019s parents would\nsay about her hasty exit. They were wheat ranchers and well known in the\ncommunity. She had already met a number of their friends by attending\nbarbecues, two parties, and now the town\u2019s biggest yearly event\u2014the Paradise\nRoundup. Until today, she had been having a lot of fun here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe\nthe horse lover in her was overly sensitive, but she was dusty and hot and\ntired, and she didn\u2019t want to go back to the rodeo. Besides, it bothered her\nthat Derrick had shown so little concern; not just for the horse, but for her\nfeelings. In less than three months they would be getting married, and she was\nbeginning to wonder if they needed more time. Things between them hadn\u2019t felt\nquite right in the last few days. Derrick had been acting differently since\nreturning to his hometown, but even more so recently. She couldn\u2019t put her\nfinger on it, but something had changed. He seemed distant, almost cool.\nPerhaps it was just because he was back in his own stomping ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nreally hadn\u2019t known each other very long. They had met less than a year ago,\nsoon after she\u2019d started her final year of college. Derrick had just graduated\nand was working in public relations, as well as helping out with the college\ngroup at her church. She had liked his outgoing and confident personality, and\nwhen she found out that his family<\/a> had horses\u2014lots of horses\u2014she was more than\na little interested. It wasn\u2019t long before they were dating, and then steadily.\nEven her conservative parents had liked him. Derrick had taken her to meet his\nparents during spring break, and on a trail ride, while she was actually in the\nsaddle, he popped the question. Of course, she said yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that\nmoment, life had seemed just about perfect. She was not only marrying a great\nguy, but God had finally answered her prayer. She would have a horse. A lot of\nhorses! On top of that, Derrick\u2019s dad was a golf buddy of the school\nsuperintendent, so landing a kindergarten teaching position had been a cinch.\nSchool would start in a few days, and Jayne had been spending several hours\nhere and there over the past week setting up her classroom. Right now, life was\njust about perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why\ndid she feel so perfectly lousy?<\/p>\n\n\n